TourFest 2024 | Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte di Montepulciano

When a music festival meets the marvellous of the Val di Chiana

Di Gaïa Debuchy.

When I arrive in Montepulciano, I understand that I set foot in a world that lives in its very own temporality. The village seems to be straight out of a marvellous book. I see it from far away, standing on its mountain, reminding me of the Castle in the sky by Miyazaki. I am in the car with Giulia and Oliviero, they are explaining to me why the village was built that way, with only one road leading to the top, making it hard for invaders back then. It is 4pm and, at the top of the village, the piazza Grande is waiting for its stage to animate. Montepulciano is a place of entertainment even before the evening shows: For the 50th year, the traditional “Bravio delle Botti”, a barrel race, is taking place on the piazza Grande. Then, not far from here, at the Teatro Poliziano, will occur the first show of the evening, as part of the 49th Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte. The Teatro Poliziano is a little theatre built in the end of the XVIII century, with an inside lush of gold and red. This year, the Cantiere happens from the 12th of July until the 28th, reviving the Teatro Poliziano for two weeks. Mariangela Vacatello is the artistic director of the festival and Michele Gamba is the musical director. The shows take place in many locations within Montepulciano, such as the two churches, the Fort, San Biagio Temple…
I am only there for one night and I might get to take a journey through time at the Teatro Poliziano and at the Cloister of the Convent of Sant’Agnese.

El retablo de Maese Pedro by Manuel de Falla (Anagoor)

Tonight, the Teatro Poliziano is welcoming El retablo de Maese Pedro, an Opera in one act by Manuel de Falla. This show is a musical and scenic performance of an episode of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. Michele Gamba is the conductor of the performance. He was born in Milano in 1983 and after his first steps as a brilliant solo pianist, he made his debut in 2009 as a conductor. Since then, he has been invited to conduct for several important theaters and orchestras in Europe. The Anagoor Company is the director, the scenographer, the costume designer and the lighting designer of the show. Anagoor was founded by Simone Derai and Paola Dallan in Castelfranco Veneto in 2000 and today is directed by Derai with Marco Menegoni. Their work is identified as an experiment in collectivity. Indeed, tonight’s show is full of imagination and fantasy, looking like a big playful experiment.

It all feels like a beautiful work made from the vision of a child, in its best sense. The scenography of the show fits perfectly the space of the theatre hall, which is in the shape of a horseshoe. The venue is small and is delicately hand decorated on the ceiling, there are also charming details such as the moldings on the balconies: it feels like a jewel and so does the stage and the costumes. The whole performance seems very close to me, I feel part of it. This is certainly due to the little stage and the warmth of the theatre but it is also made possible by the warm and bright energy of the actors themselves – as well as the scenography. There is a wholesome feeling about the show. The background wall is a giant crayon drawing, it is at the same time very impressive and also quite comforting, like a big child’s drawing. Moreover, at some point the characters play with shadows, passing behind a wall of light – becoming a dream wall. The entrance of the performers itself brings us together as well. They enter the stage through the back of the theatre, coming in the ally amongst the audience. Two of them even seat on the second row, next to us.
It is a very warm show, which I am not used to for an opera. Usually, operas feature a grandiosity, something impressive, which sometimes makes me feel far away from the story. Today, I feel that I can touch their voices. I feel included in the narrative.
Towards the end of the performance, the background paper set is broken by the characters, who pass through it. This scene allows a view on the open back door of the theatre, which gives upon trees. The image is unique and beautiful, as if the play now extends in the real world, through this back door, to continue to live outside the theatre.

It also feels like I am finally a part of these 3D children’s book, in which I always wanted to dive when I was little, but was too big for them. This set today, in this little theatre, makes me feel in one of these books, in which I finally get to be in. I entered a precious world.
What a joy to get out of the theatre and to find myself in Montepulciano. The air is soft and there is not much noise. Everyone is going towards somewhere to eat. This is the after-theatre walk to diner – the best! Giulia, Oliviero and I are walking towards the canteen the festival invested for the week. They are serving Panzanella, my new favourite dish, discovered in Tuscany…

Io, Anna Dostoevskaja

After dinner it is time for the second show of the evening, Io, Anna Dostoevskaja.
The show is a tribute to Anna Grigor’evna, Dostoevskij’s second wife. In the Cloister of the Convent of Sant’Agnese, the pianoforte of Mariangela Vacatello intertwines with the voice of Maddalena Maggi. They alternate between Rachmaninoff’s piano pieces and some extracts of the book Dostoevsky, my husband, written by Anna Dostoevskaja. The music and the voice accompany us back in the late 1800’s. The music leaves space for the images coming out from Anna’s words. It feels like a journey in the couple’s life. The whole performance is moving, intimate. The life of Dostoevskij’s duo echoes in the cloister of the convent.

A music festival in a Tuscan village does create a special ambiance. It seems like the village becomes the festival, the streets become the shows, welcoming a mix of stories and imaginative realities. The view from Montepulciano is breathless, the space is transformed into possibilities of imaginations, this forms a whole. A Tuscan landscape, the quiet of the village mixed with the life of the ongoing fictions in its different locations…